Welcome Digital Age and the new Interactive Tombstones
Graveyards are going high-tech. A British funeral home has launched a company that places QR codes on tombstones. When scanned with a smart phone, the code launches a web page full of pictures and biographical information about the deceased.
The innovation is a logical progression in the digital age. Families often build web pages on social media websites for the departed where visitors can share memories and well wishes. Now, anyone visiting a graveyard with a computer in their pocket can learn about the lives of those buried there.
“To be able to scan a code and read about the people buried there immediately will bring memorials to life,” Stephen Nimmo, managing director of QR Memories, a subsidiary of funeral director Chester Pearce Associates in the United Kingdom, said in a news release.
The QR code can be made in granite of metal, and is both hard wearing and at only 1.5” square, unobtrusive. Among other uses, it can be placed into stone memorials, or in front of trees and shrubs.
“Suddenly a simple plot in the ground with a stone on it reveals so much more.”
The codes cost up to about $475, depending on materials and how they are applied to the tombstone or other memorial. An additional $150 buys unlimited hosting, administration and set up of the website.
QR Memories introduces the Digital Tombstone
